Japanese Gulch: Some want a park, a developer envisions a warehouse

Published 10:19 pm Tuesday, May 26, 2009

MUKILTEO — Change is coming to Japanese Gulch. That much seems likely.

What it could mean for the historic, wooded ravine that divides Everett from Mukilteo isn’t yet clear.

Change could see the west half of the gulch become a large collection of warehouses, or a formal public park, or something else entirely.

Between renewed development pressures, though, and the increasingly optimistic plotting of parkland supporters, the status quo — illegal public recreation on privately-owned land — seems more fragile every day.

Park supporters say there are reasons for optimism. They recently secured $1 million from Olympia for buying gulch property, and they’ve also attracted interest from The Trust for Public Land, a national conservation organization.

They have reasons for pessimism, too.

Latitude Development, of Auburn, has signed an agreement with the gulch’s largest property owner, which could see a 915,000-square-foot warehouse complex built on the gulch’s western edge.

“If (the gulch) disappears now, the irony would be almost unbearable,” said Mukilteo Councilman Richard Emery, the vice president of the pro-park Japanese Gulch Group.

“If buildings get developed, they’ll be there forever,” Emery said earlier this month. “Nobody’s going to tear them down and plant trees again.”

What is clear to Emery and others is that Latitude Development is holding the most powerful card: an agreement with the Metropolitan Creditors’ Trust, which owns nearly 100 acres in Japanese Gulch.

Latitude Development is still pursuing ideas for the property, said Dave Kessler, a principal owner with Latitude Development. Kessler might have more to say publicly in a few weeks, he said.

Kessler is scheduled to meet today with representatives from the Japanese Gulch Group to discuss the future of Japanese Gulch.

It is the past, though, that some park supporters — such as Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds — are hoping to preserve. Starting almost 100 years ago and continuing for a few decades, the ravine was home to a thriving population of Japanese immigrant mill workers. That history matters, Shin said.

The $1 million grant from the state Legislature is in a tie for the largest earmark in Snohomish County this year. Mukilteo will have access to the funds through June 30, 2011.

While the park has many vocal supporters, some in Mukilteo are worried about the city’s ability to purchase what would be a large, regional attraction.

“I’m feeling a little bit cautious,” said Jim Brice, who sits on the city’s planning commission. “People think that because people (in Mukilteo) live in Harbor Pointe, everybody has a lot of money. I used to think that way. But a lot has changed. People are struggling now just to stay in their homes.”

It’s a fair point, some Japanese Gulch users believe.

After finishing a midday stroll through the ravine last week, three women from Everett said they believed their city should help preserve Japanese Gulch.

“It’s a close-to-home paradise,” said Nelson, who wants the two cities to work together. “Leave it the way it is. Don’t touch it.”

Chris Fyall: 425-339-3447, cfyall@heraldnet.com.